FRUITFUL SEASON AT KNOX PRESBYTERIAN
This past summer, the BFFP partnered with Knox Presbyterian Church in East Baltimore to bring fresh, organic produce to the church’s neighborhood. Knowing that the
majority of food outlets in their community
were corner stores that typically don’t sell
a lot of produce, and that residents of East
Baltimore were more likely to be low income and suffer from diet-related diseases
like heart disease and diabetes, the church
wanted to find a way to make a difference.
Enter One Straw Farm’s CSA. With a
grant from a private foundation, the BFFP
purchased ten shares from the farm. Farmers Joan and Drew Norman tithed an additional share and the Center for a Livable Future donated a few more. Every Tuesday
afternoon from July to November, we set up a stand at Knox, pricing the items from
the farm individually and according to prices folks would pay for similar food at a
nearby grocery store. Because many people in Knox’s community cannot afford to
purchase a whole share every week (the cost is roughly $20/week—not much for
some of us, but a lot for others), pricing by the piece ensured that people can still
buy produce that is much fresher than what they could otherwise find in their area.
They also got to choose just what they wanted and to feel the vegetables when
choosing, a much more dignified way of helping to provide food for those in need.
And you should’ve heard our customers ooh-ing
and ah-ing over the ―best tomatoes and watermelon
I’ve ever had!‖ People were lined up before we
even opened during those watermelon weeks!!
All proceeds were put into a fund that will be used
to purchase shares in upcoming years, the hope being that within three to four years, the project will
be economically self-sufficient and no longer need
grant money to help maintain.
Leftover produce is either donated to Knox's soup kitchen which serves around 120
people every Friday afternoon, or to local residents in need.
Thank you so much to Knox Presbyterian Church members Pastor Tanya,
Clarence, Doris, Julia, George, Amoese, Dale, and all the kids, especially Kimberly and Devonte, who helped out. Their dedication to the project and sense of
humor made every week a great adventure!
FALL 2009
Volume 2, Issue 3
BFFP’s mission:
To partner with Baltimore area
faith communities and religious
organizations of all faith traditions to promote a just, safe, and
trustworthy food system that
allows us to produce what is
needed now and for future
generations in a way that protects
people, animals, air, land, and
water.
FOOD OF THE SEASON
Ah pears!! There’s a reason why
Homer called them ―gift(s) of the
gods‖ in his epic poem, The
Odyssey. Juicy and sweet with a
divine scent, pears have long
(since the Stone Age, some think)
been revered for being delicious.
Available from August to October (and around here even longer
as they store well in cold) (but
best in October and November),
pears are high in fiber and so promote good colon health and, research is now showing, good cardiovascular health as well since
fiber appears to lower cholesterol.
Wonderful as a raw snack on the
go, cut up into a salad, or warmed
for dessert, pears are a versatile
fruit that won’t disappoint.
(From Whole Foods Market website)
Classic Poached Pears
Adapted from CooksRecipes.com (http://www.cooksrecipes.com/dessert/classic-poached-pearrecipe.html)
In looking over our past newsletters, we realized that we have always featured main dishes and
recipes with vegetables, thereby neglecting two entire categories of food that deserve at least as
much attention—if not more, for those of us with a sweet tooth! - fruits and deserts. This recipe
combines both, is easy to make, and will be a lovely conclusion to any fall meal.
1 pound Bosc or Anjou pears
1/2 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
Peel pears leaving stem intact. Scoop out core, if desired. Rub with cut lemon to prevent flesh from discoloring. In a saucepan
which will hold all the pears standing upright, heat sugar with the water, vanilla, lemon rind and juice until sugar dissolves.
Bring to a boil and add the pears. Make sure fruit is completely covered by the syrup, if not double the recipe for syrup or
prepare the fruit in two batches. Bring pears almost back to a boil and poach gently about 20 to 25 minutes until fruit is semitransparent and just tender when pierced with the point of a small knife. Cooking time will vary depending on the ripeness
and variety of the fruit. Let fruit cool to room temperature in the syrup, then transfer to serving bowl. Boil syrup down until
it's fairly thick and about half of it's original volume. Strain syrup and pour over fruit. Serve cool or chilled.
BFFP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Govans Presbyterian Church
5828 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 435-9188
Reverend Tom Harris, Pastor
Front Plot Before...
Govans Presbyterian Church took advantage of our Small Grants program this past summer to help create two beautiful veggie gardens with the worthy goal of get… and After!!
ting healthy, fresh produce to those in need in their community. Bonnie Thomson, a member of Govans,
helped spearhead the creation of this garden and shared with us just how this project came about and what good things have
resulted from it:
―A 165-year old congregation located in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore City, we are a congregation with a deep
commitment to helping those less fortunate and seeking justice for those from whom it has been deprived. Since the 1960s,
our church has helped individually and in partnership with a neighborhood organization, GEDCO, to provide job training,
housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, and food for the hungry. One specific GEDCO endeavor that is near and
dear to many church members is the CARES food pantry located in the garage of St. Mary’s of the Assumption Church.
Our support of CARES includes continuous food collection all year, designation of funds for the pantry through our benevolence budget and a June Communion offering, and an annual food drive in June that helps stock pantry in the summer when
donations tend to be low. Three years ago we also became a drop off site for a Community Supported Agriculture program
with One Straw Farm. We chose this farm because of its commitment of ―tithing shares‖ – for every 10 shares we buy, the
farm ―tithes‖ one share to be used as we see fit. We donate the tithed shares and all extra produce to the CARES Food Pantry.
Knowing that the farm produce we donate to CARES only goes so far and that the pantry’s resources for food are limited in
the summer when community needs are greatest, we searched for other ways our congregation could help the pantry.
The idea for a garden began when two church members attended the BFFP’s Faith Community Garden Workshop in February to seek information. With some networking, assistance from a master gardener, and an appeal to the congregation, the
―Govans Garden Friends‖ began working towards an April groundbreaking. By the time we broke ground we had 11 people
plowing, turning soil, removing rocks, unloading free compost from the Baltimore County Eastern Landfill, and installing
bunny blockade fencing. Some new friends and garden helpers are the Sisters of Notre Dame who live on church property.
Once the gardens were ready for planting, another plea to the congregation was made for plants. We suggested certain plants
we wanted to try, but our motto was ―You donate it and we will grow it.‖ We received both purchased and home sprouted
seedlings from 9 other church members. Baltimore Master Gardeners and Cylburn Arboretum also donated plants and herbs.
When the garden started producing vegetables and herbs we were able to contribute 2 crates of vegetables a week to CARES
in addition to the One Straw Farm produce. Our little garden of faith started from a tiny seed of an idea and has flourished
into a beautiful and productive garden that is having a variety of positive impacts throughout community.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
We’ve heard a lot about the poor state of our nation’s economy over the past year. Many people have put forth ideas for how
to bring us out of this recession, the most popular being to encourage even more growth, despite the fact that rampant, unchecked growth is partly what led us to our current predicament. This idea has also been primary among agribusiness for over
50 years now, as it has encouraged an unending quest to increase crop yields and the number of animals being raised for meat
without giving much thought to the quality of food being produced. While it is true that the industrial food system has largely
succeeded in reaching its goals as we now produce enough food for everyone in the U.S. (3800 calories/person/day is produced, and we need around 2000 to thrive), we know that unfortunately many among us still aren’t getting the food they need,
and that there have been some other important unintended consequences resulting from this growth. Increased air and water
pollution, soil degradation, farmers making barely enough to hold on to their land, inhumane treatment of animals, poor working conditions for farm workers, and an overabundance of unhealthy, processed food that is more affordable than healthier
options are just a few of the results of the rampant growth of industrial agriculture. Just as our country is now in the process of
rethinking its old economic growth model, so too are many of us trying to imagine a new food system where there is enough
for all, and where our environment, health, and livelihoods are protected as well. Although important, there is more to growing
food than the bottom line. Poet, farmer, essayist, and philosopher Wendell Berry sums it up well:
The outer harmony we desire between our economy and the world depends finally
upon on inward harmony between our own hearts and the originating spirit as near
us as our flesh and yet forever beyond measures or this obsessively measuring age.
We can grow good wheat and good bread only if we understand that we do not live
by bread alone.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Sunday, 11/15/09
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Tikvat Israel Congregation
2200 Baltimore Road
Rockville, MD 20851
RSVP by November 9 to
[email protected] or call
(301) 762-7338.
Wednesday, 11/18/09
6:00 PM—Film
7:15 PM—Panel Discussion
8:00 PM—Reception with local food
Becton Dickenson Hall (W1020)
Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Friday, 11/20/09
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe Street, Room W4030
Baltimore, MD 21205
Art and Agriculture: A Celebration of Food
11:00 a.m.: Grand opening of ArtSites ―Food‖ exhibition with works by local
artists with a food theme. Admission to the art show is free.
4:00 p.m.: Lecture on Jewish Agricultural Communities in North America by
Dr. Theodore Herzl (Ted) Friedgut, Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
6:00 p.m.: Organic vegetarian dinner, featuring locally grown foods
Dinner and the lecture: $18 for general public; $5 for children 12 and under
Lecture only: $5.00
See http://www.artsitesjudaicguild.org/ or http://tikvatisrael.org/ for more information.
Fresh: A Film by Ana Sofia Joanes. Featuring Will Allen, Joel Salatin,
and Michael Pollan, Fresh is a movie about what’s wrong with American agriculture and how we can fix it.
Vertical Farming and Public Health. Talk by Dickson Despommier, founder
of the vertical farming movement and director of the Vertical Farm Project
which addresses issues related to urban agriculture, environmental disturbance,
and the restoration of damaged ecosystems.
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Questions or comments, please e-mail us at [email protected], or call 410-502-5069.